Adding Caramel to Amber Ale

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burninator

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I've put together the grain and hops to brew up an amber ale this coming week with a friend of mine. He suggested that he has some homemade caramel he wants to use and wondered about adding it to the recipe.

Has anyone experimented with a caramel addition in this style? I recognize that it will boost OG, and it may dry out the beer a bit, but I'm also interested in the potential flavor contributions.

If anyone wants to talk me out of it, speak up. :D
 
I don't see where this could go wrong.
Is it liquid caramel like a syrup, or caramel candies? If it's soft milk caramels you might get more mouthfeel from the lactose, like in a milk stout. The proteins could possibly be problematic (I have nothing but suspicion to back that up, however.)
Belgian brewers use sugars and syrups all the time, so I'm sure it'll work just fine, and the caramel should definitely add a nice flavor.
 
Caramel candies? How much does he have?

It sounds like a waste of effort. It would probably just be easier to use its components (mostly sugar).

To me, this is a bit like saying, I made these homemade chocolate truffles and would like to add them to beer.
 
Caramel is perfectly ok. The thing is that both inverted sugar and caramelised sugar are used in lots of brewing traditions. Here in Britain both are used for flavour contributions, colour and dryness. Brewer's caramel is a fairly classic addition and it goes up to around 15000 Lovibond, so it's pretty dark. It's also fairly unfermentable and caramelised. Darker invert sugar syrup is more fermentable but a lot lighter (comparable to dark candi syrup).
 
Caramel candies? How much does he have?

It sounds like a waste of effort. It would probably just be easier to use its components (mostly sugar).

To me, this is a bit like saying, I made these homemade chocolate truffles and would like to add them to beer.

This is where I'm leaning for this style. I don't know that it would contribute substantially to flavor, since we already have crystal malt in the grain bill.

I'm thinking, though, that in a brown or a porter, where the bill had been adjusted to account for the caramel addition, it could be really nice.
 
Not clear to me whether you are talking about something like the homemade dark Candi syrup (which is fine), or actual caramel candy or sauce made with butter and milk proteins (which I would most definitely not recommend in a beer).
 
Not clear to me whether you are talking about something like the homemade dark Candi syrup (which is fine), or actual caramel candy or sauce made with butter and milk proteins (which I would most definitely not recommend in a beer).

Oh, no, I'd definitely not try to add a caramel sauce to my brew. Think I'll just stick to the recipe, since I haven't brewed it before. Why mess with a good thing, especially when you don't know what you're doing?
 
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